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http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article66020292.html Could Sacramento State use driverless shuttles on campus? MARCH 14, 2016 TONY BIZJAK [video flash Autonomous car from Varden Labs gets a test drive on the Sacramento State campus on March 14, 2016. Tony Bizjak The Sacramento Bee ] “Alvin,” the robot car named after a TV cartoon chipmunk, dropped by Sacramento State this week to offer students a ride in what some entrepreneurs hope will be the future of campus transit. “It has a mind of its own,” said Mike Reid, 22, general manager for Alvin’s creator, Varden Labs, explaining the little car’s nickname. The Mountain View-based company is made up of former University of Waterloo engineering students who hope to lease driverless shuttle vehicles to colleges. The Polaris Gem vehicle, basically an oversized golf cart, is fitted with computers and a rooftop laser that serves as the vehicle’s eyes. “For most people, self-driving technology is sort of science fiction,” Reid said as the car transported riders between the Hornet Bookstore and the Guy West Bridge steps. “This shows people the technology is a real option, and it allows us to run tests in a real environment.” On Monday, Alvin drove slowly and at times haltingly at about five miles per hour through a thicket of strolling students, some on bikes, others on skateboards. At one point, a cyclist scooted quickly across its path, causing it to jolt to a stop. At another point, the car had to creep along at pedestrian speed for nearly a half-minute because two students were walking slowly ahead in the same direction, and didn’t step aside. Varden is among dozens of technology and car companies now testing autonomous vehicles around the world. Varden’s $50,000 all-electric vehicle is less sophisticated than Google driverless cars being tested in traffic on public streets in Mountain View and other cities. It is programmed to follow a given route and it cannot deviate, even a few feet. If something is in its way, it must slow down or stop until that object moves aside. Reid said the company would like to advance its technology so that the shuttles can act more like a free-range taxi, rather than a fixed-route bus, allowing them to pick people up wherever they are and take them wherever they want to go. He said the company will continue testing and improving the technology for about a year and offering demonstrations on campus, then attempt to lease cars to colleges. Tony Lucas, Sacramento State’s transportation and parking services director, said the university is hosting Varden as an educational opportunity for students, and as a chance for administrators to check out the technology for potential future use. The university currently has student-driven campus shuttles. Lucas said the university is not considering at this point making changes in its transportation programs. “We don’t know necessarily whether this technology is ready for prime time, but we think it is good for our students to be exposed to it,” Lucas said. Sacramento State civil engineering student Gabriella Lopez was among the first students to check the car out. “Impressive,” she said. She said she thinks the technology can bring safety improvements to driving, for the most part. “There is a small degree of untrustworthiness,” she said. “But some drivers behind the wheel are not trustworthy either.” [© sacbee.com] ... http://vardenlabs.com Varden Labs http://vardenlabs.com/img/gem_e4.png ... [video dated https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C7a6d1mzYY Driving a fixed route autonomously (Varden Labs) 1:08 Jun 17, 2015 - Varden Labs is a team working on Autonomous Vehicle technology at the University of Waterloo ... ] http://fox40.com/2016/03/14/driverless-shuttle-rolls-through-sac-state-campus/ Driverless Shuttle Rolls Through Sac State Campus MARCH 14, 2016 [video flash] SACRAMENTO-- Sitting in the driver's seat of what looks like an expensive golf cart, Brandon Moak is touring the Sac Stats campus. "It's really big, a lot of open area," Moak said. To a passerby, the young-looking Moak could easily be confused for another high school senior trying to figure out which college may be best for his or her future. Of course fans of the movie "Van Wilder" have no issue with a student using a golf cart to get from class to class, but that's not what Moak is here for. He and his partner Mike Reid are Canadian transplants living in Mountain View. Monday and Tuesday, they'll be on campus to test and show-off the very vehicle Moak is sitting in. Technically, it's not a golf cart, it's a shuttle, and although he's in the drivers seat Moak is just along for the ride - no need for a person behind the wheel when it doesn't have one. To be really technical, Moak is sitting in "Alvin," a driverless vehicle he and his engineering team created in their native Canada before moving to the Bay Area. Using a mixture of a $30,000 GPS and Lydar - yes, the same Lydar that is used when a cop pulls you over for speeding - "Alvin" is able to seamlessly and more importantly autonomously navigate a pre-destined path around a crowded area just outside the schools book store. "Sac State is really a good proving ground because of its size. It's exactly what we were looking for during testing," Ried said. Unlike other driverless cars "Alvin" was not made for the highway, so the regulations governed by the DMV do not apply. "That will really speed up the process of making it commercially available some day," Reid said. Five-miles-an-hour is its top speed while on campus, not fast, but very efficient. "Alvin" is able to brake on a dime with a Lydar detection of an object in its way at only six feet. Moak, Reid and others at Varden Labs anticipate assisted living and private communities to among its first clients, as well as academic and business campuses. If testing goes well Varden Labs says it could give schools like Sac State an "Alvin" of their own to further testing before it's made commercially available. [© 2016 KTXL] ... http://www.govtech.com/fs/Alvin-the-Autonomous-Shuttle-Delivers-University-Students-to-Class-on-Time.html Alvin the Autonomous Shuttle Delivers University Students to Class on Time MARCH 15, 2016 Alvin drove slowly and at times haltingly at about five miles per hour through a thicket of strolling students, some on bikes, others on skateboards on California's Sacramento State campus, hoping to prove itself as the future of campus transit. For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Varden-s-Alvin-auton-nEV-shuttle-Sacramento-CA-State-campus-v-tp4681105.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
